The present invention relates to laundry containers in general and particularly to laundry bags.
Usually, commercial laundry bags have employed draw cords at their open ends to close the bags. As simple as the draw cord closure of laundry bags is, the technique has its drawbacks. To keep a bag closed, the ends of the cord must be tied. The knots are often difficult to untie, leading to the common practice of cutting the cord. This results in constant repair of the draw cords. The draw cords also wear out their housing sleeve in the bag, requiring repair in this area also.
In normal practice, commercial establishments such as hotels and restaurants employ laundry hampers which have a rim supported above a floor by legs. The laundry bag is attached to the hamper by folding the open end of the bag from inside the rim, over its top and down its outside. The draw cord is then drawn tight to prevent the laundry bag from pulling back over the rim. In other words, the open end of the laundry bag is turned inside out over the rim and the draw cord tightened to secure the bag to the hamper. If there is damage to the draw cord or sleeve it becomes difficult to properly mount the bag on a hamper. In addition, this construction does not limit the amount of laundry that can be stuffed into the bag. Too much laundry in a bag can split the bag's seams or make the bag difficult to handle.
An improvement over the draw cord laundry bag is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,650. This patent provides a means for properly limiting the capacity of the bag and to secure the contents of the bag for handling in a laundry.